State Stat Stars Of The Week

The five pitchers and catcher shown from Sonoma Academy are the ones responsible for four straight no-hitters and 27 2/3 consecutive no-hit innings. Photo: Harold Abend.

The team streak of baseball no-hitters at Sonoma Academy gets even more bizarre when another nearby school reports a fourth straight no-hitter on Wednesday. Others from baseball to gain entry onto this week’s honor roll include a player with three homers and 11 RBI in one game, a player who almost hit for the cycle in both games of a doubleheader and big-time sophomore Patrick Wicklander of San Jose Valley Christian. For softball, the week’s best include a girl named Steffi Best plus one of the state’s top strikeout artists driving in seven runs with her bat.Note: Writeups this week mostly for games played through April 9 also by Paul Muyskens & CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett with contribution from Harold Abend. We also will collect totals from MaxPreps, newspapers, tweets and from those sent in to us. We also will compile single-game highs from this post throughout the season and of course we use our weekly State Stat Stars collection as an aid for the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book. That is the only state record book anyone has ever done and we have published it seven times with full copyright protection. To report totals to us for this feature and for the record book, email markjtennis@gmail.com or call 209-608-1317. You can also text to 209-608-1317.

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Maybe we won’t put in a new category in the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book files after all for most no hitters in a row for a baseball team.

During a week of controversy in which Sonoma Academy of Santa Rosa is getting attention for a reported fifth straight no-hitter in a game in which it was witnessed by many that a hit actually occurred, we find out that nearby St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma now has four straight no-hitters after a 13-0 win on Wednesday over Calistoga.

St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma head coach Gary Galloway won his 550th game on his team’s fourth straight reported no-hitter. Photo: Harold Abend.

The St. Vincent no-hitter also came in the 550th milestone win for longtime head coach Gary Galloway. While it’s understandable not to take attention away from Galloway’s feat and the school itself didn’t mention it in a press release about the 550th coaching win, Cal-Hi Sports correspondent Harold Abend was at Wednesday’s game and it was later confirmed that the team does indeed have four straight no-hitters.

In Wednesday’s game, Jack Romano, Trevor Bovaird and Jake Pullon combined for the no-hitter. In the previous game, a 2-0 win vs. Upper Lake, Dominic Pedersen pitched a seven-inning no-hitter, struck out 11 and went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Sonoma Academy plays Upper Lake on Friday while St. Vincent plays Tomales. Next Friday at Sonoma Academy, the two teams play each other, which conceivably could be a matchup of a team recognized with seven straight no-hitters going against one with six straight no-hitters. As reported earlier this week, however, the Cal-Hi Sports record book will be using 27 2/3 no-hit innings for Sonoma Academy and the streak being over. It appears that St. Vincent’s no-hit streak for innings stands at 22 and counting heading into its next game.

In all the years of California baseball, in which there have been many dominant small school teams that have played eight to 10 very weak opponents in a row, maybe throwing four or five no-hitters in a row isn’t such a rare feat after all.

If two teams in the same area code can do it in the same month, it’s hard not to think that thought. Still, when we checked our files and those of others we know when Sonoma Academy’s four no-hitters in a row came to our attention, there wasn’t anything like it.

BASEBALL

Jose Avila (Harbor Teacher Prep, Wilmington)
He backed up the one-hit pitching of teammate Clinton Branch in a 21-0 triumph vs. Animo Robinson by going 3-for-3 with seven RBI. Branch also struck out nine batters in the easy win.

Justin Berry (James Logan, Union City)Pitching against league rival Washington of Easton must be to Justin’s liking. Earlier in the season, he had eight strikeouts in three innings against the Huskies. Last week, in a 7-0 win, he pitched a one-hitter with seven strikeouts and also ripped a double as a batter.

Josh Bower (Tulare)He was perfect at the plate by going 5-for-5, scored twice, and had two RBI with one double in a 12-1 win by the Redskins over Monache of Porterville. Teammate Anthony Urias also had a nice game, going 3-for-5 with five RBI and two runs scored.

Greg Creamer (Winters)Senior standout for perennial top team out of the CIF Northern Section went 3-for-4 with one homer, two doubles and six RBI in a 16-0 shutout last week vs. Willows. Creamer started this week with 36 RBI in 19 games.

Hans Crouse (Dana Hills, Dana Point)Not allowing a run over 6.1 innings, he struck out 11 in a 5-0 win over Trabuco Hills. Crouse, a lefty regarded as one of the top junior prospects in the nation, also had a complete-game shutout earlier this season against Villa Park.

Jack Cunningham from West Ranch of Valencia tossed his school’s first-ever no-hitter last week. Photo: westranchbaseball.com.

Jack Cunningham (West Ranch, Valencia)During an 11-0 win over Golden Valley of Santa Clarita in Foothill League play, he had a gold medal worthy performance as he pitched a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts. According to the team’s web site, it’s the first no-hitter in school history. Later in the week, Doug Gragg also tied a school record by going 5-for-5 in another easy win (this one 19-0) vs. Golden Valley.

Dylan De La Montanya (Sonoma Academy)He’s the top player for the team that had its no-hit streak stopped earlier this week at 27 2/3 innings (which is the total we’re going by in our record book). Heading into the week, De La Montanya was coming in off of going 3-for-4 with a double and throwing five no-hit innings with eight strikeouts in a 11-1 triumph over Bay School of San Francisco. In his previous game, De La Montanya pitched three no-hit innings with six strikeouts and went 2-for-2 with a triple and four runs scored in a 15-0 rout of Calistoga.

Jake Erickson (Venture Academy, Stockton)In a 23-2 romp past Sone Ridge Christian of Merced, Erickson pounded three homers and drove in 11 runs while going 4-for-4. The 11 RBI is good enough for the Cal-Hi Sports record files and may be the most locally since Adam Heether of Ripon had 11 RBI in a win in 2000 vs. Turlock Christian.

Eddie Fu (Lynbrook, San Jose)We didn’t see a third game on Lynbrook’s MaxPreps page, but the San Jose Mercury-News reported that Fu went 10-for-10 last week in three games for the Vikings. He went 4-for-4 in a 7-4 win against Live Oak of Morgan Hill and also went 2-for-2 with a double in a 11-9 triumph vs. Cupertino. He’s a senior outfielder.

Gavin Haimovitz (Dunn, Los Olivos)We’re always pumped when we get to mention the Earwigs, which Dunn’s unique nickname. Gavin led the Earwigs in an interesting double-header sweep last Saturday over St. Genevieve of Panorama City. In the first game, he had a homer, double and triple in a 7-0 win. Then in the second game, he had a homer, double and triple in a 15-3 triumph. He didn’t hit for the cycle in both games of a double-header but almost did.

Chance Hroch (Vista Murrieta, Murrieta)Getting the start in a Southwestern League game against Great Oak of Temecula, he allowed just two hits while striking out 11 in a 3-0 win.

Kyle Hurt (Torrey Pines, San Diego)You may use any adjective about pain you can think of after Hurt led the Falcons to an 11-5 win last week over Rancho Bernardo of San Diego. It also was one of two wins by Torrey Pines over the Broncos, who were poised to go back into the State Top 20. Hurt, a junior, led Torrey Pines by going 3-for-4 at the plate with a homer while also pitching six innings with five strikeouts. Hurt was the game’s winning pitcher as well.Alex Isola (Jesuit, Carmichael)One of last week’s most significant results was the Marauders beating Bellarmine of San Jose and completing a sweep of tough Bay Area opponents. Isola, a Utah recruit, led the way in the 7-4 triumph with a three-run homer and a two-run double that highlighted a four-run rally in the seventh inning.

Kyle Nicol (Burroughs, Burbank)We honored him earlier this season as a SoCal Player of the Week and this Cal State Northridge commit has continued to impress. Last week, he allowed just four hits while striking out nine during an 11-0 win over Pasadena.

Elijah Parks (Tulare Western, Tulare)Delano not only couldn’t get the ball out of the park trying to hit Parks last week, but in the end didn’t get a hit at all in 6-0 loss. Parks pitched a seven-inning no-hitter in the crosstown contest with just two walks and 14 strikeouts.

Nick Proffitt (Liberty, Bakersfield)It took 10 innings, but Proffitt made Bakersfield take in a 7-4 contest played last week. Proffitt of had a career high of five hits, including two doubles, one triple and two RBI.

Carson Rudd (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village)Moving to 7-0 on the season when on the mound, he allowed just one hit over six innings of an 8-0 win over Thousand Oaks. Committed to Stanford, he has allowed just one run this season over 46 innings.

Arman Sabouri (Branham, San Jose)Getting the start on the mound against Leigh of San Jose in BVAL Mount Hamilton league play, he pitched a shutout while striking out 13 in a 7-0 win for the Bruins. Sabouri has been among the reported state leaders for strikeouts and lowest ERA for the last two seasons.

Sam Villa (Cleveland, Reseda)Making sure the Cavaliers’ second loss this season wouldn’t come with him on the mound, he allowed just one hit while striking out 10 when the Cavaliers improved to 20-1 with a 3-0 win over Taft of Woodland Hills.

Reece Weinberg (Chaminade, West Hills)With little room for error, the Eagles remained undefeated at home with a 1-0 win over Loyola of Los Angeles Behind Weinberg, who pitched a complete game shutout with four hits allowed, one walk and five strikeouts.

Patrick Wicklander (Valley Christian, San Jose)He’s without question one of the top sophomore pitchers in the state and maybe the nation. In a 3-0 win in eight innings last week against defending CIF Central Coast Section Division I champ St. Francis of Mountain View, Wicklander was huge with a no-hitter, just one walk allowed and eight strikeouts. According to the San Jose Mercury-News, he also lowered his ERA to 0.80. In the West Catholic Athletic League, that’s ridiculous.

Ryan Wilcox (Los Gatos)With his arm or with his bat, he was a big part of a pair of wins last week as he allowed just one hit and struck out eight in a 4-0 win over Milpitas and doubled twice during a four hit game when the Wildcats defeated Palo Alto 7-4.

SOFTBALL

Kate Aguilar (Golden Sierra, Garden Valley)
During a football like final score, she went 3-for-3 with a double and five runs batted in as the Grizzlies defeated Highlands of North Highlands 17-7. Aguilar, a junior, also went 2-for-3 last week in a 12-0 win vs. San Juan of Fair Oaks and has had at least two hits in six other games this season.

Steffi Best (Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates)Doing more than her best against Inglewood, she combined with Sydney Tody to pitch a no-hitter during a 25-0 win Inglewood. She struck out nine in four innings while also contributing at the plate where she went 5-for-5 with a home run and four runs batted in. Best, who has also played on the OC Batbusters travel team, has signed with Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo.

Megan Bower (Miramonte, Orinda)After hitting .672 with 11 home runs and 41 runs batted in as a freshman, she is having no sophomore slump. Bower hit a double, home run and drove in five runs during an 18-7 loss last week to Dublin. Through 13 games this season, she was hitting .718 with 37 runs batted in and eight home runs for the Matadors.

Maddy Byrd (Cypress)Headed to Tabor College once her high school career is finished, she pitched a perfect game with 11 strikeouts as the Centurions defeated Western of Anaheim 11-0.

Mia Camuso (Shasta, Redding)Mia was launching some missiles in a pair of wins by the Wolves last week. The University of Oregon-bound standout had two homers in a 11-1 win vs. Corning and then went 3-for-3 with four RBI in a 11-8 win vs. Enterprise of Redding. Entering this week, Camuso had 10 homers for the season.

Carli Cutler (Rocklin)The senior has been one of the hottest pitchers in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section in recent weeks. Cutler had a no-hitter and struck out nine when the Thunder blanked Woodcreek of Roseville 3-0 last week. Earlier in the week, Del Oro of Loomis managed to score, but Cutler still had a three-hitter and struck out nine in a 5-1 win. She already has a one-hitter and 11 strikeouts in a 5-1 win this week vs. Folsom.

Rebecca Gallis (Kern Valley, Lake Isabella)For the second week, Gallis gets a listing. She continued her outstanding athletic career by batting in six runs on three hits, two that went for doubles, in a 19-0 win over Kings Christian of Lemoore.

Jenna Gorman (Garces, Bakersfield)It was a case Gorman stormin’ when the Rams clobbered Bakersfield last week 13-0. Gorman finished 3-for-3 at the plate with six RBI and two home runs. According to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett, however, Gorman also hit two homers and had four RBI earlier in the week in a 17-0 win by Garces also over the Drillers.

Kira La Scola (Lutheran, Orange)Nearly the entire Lancers’ roster got an at bat in their 21-4 win over JSerra Catholic of San Juan Capistrano, but this sophomore had the biggest impact as she hit two home runs with five runs batted in. If the Lancers finish an unbeaten week this week (they’ve already beaten Mater Dei), they’ll be at least No. 3 in next week’s state rankings.

Natlie Lugo (South Hills, West Covina)Earlier this week, she won her 10th game of the season but she had a pair of one-hit shutouts last week while striking out 19 batters in a game for the second time this season during a 2-0 win over Glendora. Among the state leaders in strikeouts, she had 173 strikeouts in 95.1 innings pitched.

Gianna Mancha (Central, Fresno)She did it all as a pitcher and hitter in leading the Grizzlies to a surprisingly easy 10-0 shutout of Clovis West. In the circle, Mancha racked up 14 strikeouts and gave up just one hit. She also went 2-for-3 with a a double, homer and four RBI.

Devyn Magnett (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego)She’s the senior standout on a team with nationally ranked sophomore Megan Faraimo and is showing the youngsters how to do it. In last week’s games, Magnett pitched three shutouts. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, she also only allowed one hit in two of the games against Hilltop of Chula Vista and Point Loma of San Diego.

Emma Martinez (Redwood Christian, Castro Valley)Here’s a unique category we rarely mention, but Emma was reported as having thrown out four base stealers in one game when Redwood Christian beat Ben Holt Academy of Stockton last week 11-1 in five innings. In the same game, the junior catcher also hit a home run.

Kailee Powell has been on a power surge for Canyon of Canyon Country. Photo: SoCalAthleticsSoftball.com.

Anisa Maulupe (Carson)In leading the Colts to their ninth win in 10 games, Maulupe came through with a pair of homers. Carson topped San Pedro 5-3 in a matchup of teams that always a factor in the CIF L.A. City Section playoffs.

Desiree Moreno (North, Torrance)In a 16-12 victory vs. Rolling Hills Prep of San Pedro, Moreno homered in the first inning, then later singled, tripled and doubled to hit for the cycle. She also drove in three runs as the Saxons improved to 16-5.

Kailee Powell (Canyon, Canyon Country)Starting the week with a two-homer game with two runs batted in during a 12-11 loss to Hart of Newhall, this sophomore who has committed to George Washington also homered and drove in four runs during a 6-3 win over Golden Valley of Santa Clarita.

Kaitlyn Rubio (Placer, Auburn)The senior catcher ripped a pair of homers and went 2-for-4 with three RBI in a 7-1 victory against Center of Antelope. Later in the week, she homered again in a 15-2 rout of Colfax. The three homers also raised Rubio’s season total to nine.

Danielle Williams (Amador Valley, Pleasanton)The ace of the Dons was hurt with three walks and her team committing two errors, but she still ended with with a no-hitter and struck out 13 in a 2-1 triumph over Livermore.

Linnay Wilson (Coalinga)Known more for her pitching, she had her biggest offensive game of the season last week during a 27-2 win over Avenal. Wilson went 5-for-6 with a double and seven runs batted in. She also pitched three perfect innings in the win with eight strikeouts and stole two bases. For the season, according to MaxPreps, Wilson has struck out more than 200 batters so far.

CALVARY CHAPEL LEAGUE STREAK ENDSEstancia of Costa Mesa snapped a 66-game league win streak last week was held by Calvary Chapel of Downey. The Eagles beat the Eagles 7-5 as both Maya Vandenheever and Felicia Rios both had three hits and two doubles. Calvary Chapel’s 66-game total does make it into the state record book, but doesn’t come close to the reported Cal-Hi Sports state record of 122 that ended in 2004 at Boron.

Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports

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